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I'm confused about how to use two words おかず and 食べ物, which all defined "food"
as I search. What's the differences about them? Really thank you if you give
me some examples.


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2015-04-19T11:33:03.100
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2015-04-19T11:58:07.633
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question
words meaning food
What's the differences between おかず and 食べ物


There is a **clear** difference between the two. (I feel for you because I
have seen 「おかず」 defined wrongly in smaller bilingual dictionaries.)

「[食]{た}べ[物]{もの}」 refers to any and all kinds of food; It just includes
**_everything people eat_**. Anything edible is called 「食べ物」.

「おかず」 is different. It is what you eat **_with_** rice (or bread) in a meal.
It refers to the entree and all of the side dishes. Rice, bread, snacks and
desserts are **_not_** called 「おかず」 among Japanese-speakers.

This should give you a good idea of what おかず is:

[http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=&p=%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8B%E3%81%9A](http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=&p=%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8B%E3%81%9A)


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2015-04-19T11:53:51.950
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2015-04-19T11:57:18.113
2015-04-19T11:57:18.113
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answer


I think おかず refers to side dishes accompanied with rice, while 食べ物 refers to
'food' in general.

When Japanese or Chinese eat meals at home, there's usually a bowl of rice per
person and several dishes (e.g. fish, meat, vegetable) in the middle. Those
dishes are called おかず.


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2015-04-19T11:58:07.633
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2015-04-19T11:58:07.633
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